Delta 4 rocket boosts new GPS satellite into orbit

March 25, 2015 8:30 PM

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The 206-foot-tall rocket's hydrogen-fueled main engine throttled up with a rush of fire at 2:36 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), followed a moment later by ignition of two solid-fuel strap-on boosters. Generating 1.1 million pounds of thrust, the Delta 4 quickly climbed away through low fog over the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and arced away to the northeast over the Atlantic Ocean.

The climb out of the dense lower atmosphere went smoothly and 15 minutes after liftoff, the rocket's second stage engine shut down as planned to put the satellite payload into an initial parking orbit.